The World of Sholom Aleichem

Sam Levene was a Broadway, film, radio and television actor who in a career spanning 5 decades created some of the most legendary comedic roles in American theatrical history. Levene appeared in a staggering list of 38 Broadway productions, 33 of which were the original Broadway productions, including Nathan Detroit, the craps-shooter extraordinaire, in the 1950 original Broadway production of "Guys and Dolls", Max Kane, the hapless agent, in the original 1932 Broadway production of "Dinner at Eight", Patsy, the comedic gambler, in the 1935 Broadway farce "Three Men on a Horse" , Gordon Miller, the shoestring producer, in the original 1937 Broadway production of "Room Service", Sidney Black, the theatrical producer, in " Light Up the Sky" , Horace Vandergelder, the crotchety merchant of Yonkers, in the 1954 premier UK production of Thornton Wilder's "The Matchmaker" and Al Lewis, the retired vaudevillian, in the original 1972 Broadway production of Neil Simon's "The Sunshine Boys". Levene was a consistent presence on Broadway for 5 decades; Levene's first Broadway play was in 1927, the last in 1980. Throughout his career Levene effortlessly segued between starring roles in over 100 productions on stage, radio, television and film, appearing in a variety of roles, including policemen, servicemen, gamblers, gangsters, newspaper reporter, theatrical producer, actor's agent, dress manufacturer and even a psychiatrist and was equally adept in segueing from comedy to farce and drama. 9 years after making his Broadway debut, Levene was lured to Hollywood where he made his motion picture debut as Patsy in the 1936 film version of "Three Men on a Horse" earning $1,000 a week. Known as a dependable character actor, Levene appeared in 50 films, including 14 at MGM, which included two appearances as Police Lieutenant Abrams in the "Thin Man" series. During his five-decade Hollywood career, Levene established himself as one the great film noir stalwarts. Levene's film noir credits include his riveting performance as Samuels, the murdered GI, in "Crossfire" (1947), considered by many as one of RKO’s if not perhaps of any studio’s best film noirs. Other film noir credits include: William Holden's taxi-driving brother-in-law "Siggie" in "Golden Boy" (1939), "Action in the North Atlantic" (1943), a Doolittle Flyer and Japanese POW in "The Purple Heart" (1944), a police lieutenant in "The Killers" (1946), "Brute Force" (1947), "Boomerang" (1947), "Killer McCoy" (1947), "Dial 1119" (1950), "Sweet Smell of Success" (1957), "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" (1957). In 1961 Levene was nominated for the 1961 Tony Award for Best Actor in a play for his performance as Dr. Aldo Meyer in Dore Schary's "The Devil's Advocate". Levene never received a Tony; by the time the Tony's were established in 1947, Levene had already created roles in 16 original Broadway shows, including legendary performances in the original Broadway productions of "Dinner at Eight"(1932), "Three Men on a Horse" (1935), "Room Service" (1937) and "Margin For Error" (1939). In 1984, Levene was posthumously inducted in the American Theatre Hall of Fame and in 1998, Sam Levene along with the original Broadway cast of the 1950 "Guys and Dolls" Decca cast album posthumously inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye onstage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus onstage and onscreen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version of The Producers. He was blacklisted during the 1950s, and his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities was well-publicized. He was a Tony Award and Obie Award winner. Description above from the Wikipedia article Zero Mostel, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Morris Carnovsky (September 5, 1897 – September 1, 1992) was an American stage and film actor born in St. Louis, Missouri. He worked briefly in the Yiddish theatre before attending Washington University in St. Louis. Opting for a mainstream acting career, he appeared in dozens of Broadway shows. Description above from the Wikipedia article Morris Carnovsky, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, during the mid-1920s) is an American actress and director. She made her film debut in 1951 as a young shoplifter in William Wyler's Detective Story, co-starring Kirk Douglas and Eleanor Parker. This role earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress as well as the Best Actress Award at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival. In 1952 she was blacklisted from most acting jobs for the next 12 years. She was able to find only occasional work onstage or as a teacher during this period. It also contributed to her divorce. She was removed from the blacklist in 1962 and rebuilt her acting career. She starred in 71 TV episodes of Peyton Place (1965–1966), followed by lead roles in films such as Valley of the Dolls, In the Heat of the Night (both 1967), and Shampoo (1975), for the last of which she won an Oscar. In 1964, she won the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress for her performance in The Maids. During her career she was nominated for the Emmy Award seven times between 1966 and 1993, winning twice. In 1986 she directed Down and Out in America which tied for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and in the same year she also won a Directors Guild of America Award for Nobody's Child. Description above from the Wikipedia article Lee Grant, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Nancy Walker (May 10, 1922 - March 25, 1992) was an American actress.

​Jack Gilford (July 25, 1908 - June 4, 1990) was an American stage, film and television actor.

Charlotte Rae Lubotsky was born on April 22, 1926, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Russian Jewish immigrants Esther (née Ottenstein), who was a childhood friend of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, and Meyer Lubotsky, a retail tire business owner. She is one of three sisters, along with Miriam and the late Beverly (December 21, 1921 – June 2, 1998). She graduated from Shorewood High School in 1944. For the first ten years or so of her life, Rae's family lived in Milwaukee, then moved to Shorewood, Wisconsin. She did radio work and was with the Wauwatosa Children's Theatre. At 16, she was an apprentice with the Port Players, a professional theater company that came for the summer to Milwaukee, with several established actors such as Morton DaCosta, who would eventually direct The Music Man on Broadway. Rae attended Northwestern University, although she did not complete her studies, where she met Cloris Leachman, who many years later succeeded Rae on The Facts of Life for the show's last two seasons. At Northwestern she met several unknown stars and producers, including Agnes Nixon, Charlton Heston, Paul Lynde, Gerald Freedman, Claude Akins and songwriter Sheldon Harnick. When a radio personality told her that her last name wouldn't do, she dropped it, to her father's chagrin. She moved to New York City in 1948, where she performed in the theater and nightclubs. During her early years in New York, she worked at the Village Vanguard (alongside up-and-coming talents such as singer Richard Dyer-Bennet) and at the posh Blue Angel, home to budding talents Barbra Streisand, Mike Nichols and Elaine May. She moved to Los Angeles in 1974 Description above from the Wikipedia article Olivia Ruiz, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Frederick Rolf was born on August 14, 1926 in Berlin, Germany. He is an actor, known for Witness (1985), Deconstructing Harry (1997) and Everyone Says I Love You (1996). He has been married to Roni Dengel since October 3, 1971.

Carl Warren Reindel (January 20, 1935 – September 4, 2009) was an American actor, known for portraying Lieutenant Kenneth M. Taylor in the epic war film Tora! Tora! Tora!. He also played "Stanton" in Steve McQueen's hit film Bullitt (1968) and "Lt. Comroe" in classic science fiction film The Andromeda Strain (1971). He also made several appearances on popular TV series. In 1964, he appeared on Perry Mason as defendant and title character Barry Davis in "The Case of the Drifting Dropout," and in 1966 he played golf caddy and murderer Danny Bright in "The Case of the Golfer's Gambit." In 1966, Episode 25, on the series, Gidget, he played Scott Baker, a paid watchful eye, to make sure Gidget was safe on a weekend away at a surfboard competition. He also appeared on Gunsmoke (S7E31 - "Cale"), as the title named young cowboy set on doing things his way, but usually for good, The F.B.I., Bonanza, The Virginian (as Carl Reindell), and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and also played the son of a man bent on vengeance on the western series Wagon Train before leaving show business in the early 1980s.